One of the things that I notice when reading scripts is how, especially in early drafts, the antagonist is almost always a more interesting character than the protagonist. This is clearly an issue for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that you want the audience to root for your hero and not your villain. And yet so many times I’ve read scripts where the antagonist is this dynamic, charismatic character but the protagonist is flat, sterile and not very likable.  The same thing can of course happen in reverse, and it’s just as dangerous to the quality of the script, but in my experience it’s just not as frequent.

The problem that most writers want so badly to make their main character likable that they end up completely draining them of any personality whatsoever.

I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve read a script that has the main character as some sort of straight-as-an-arrow, make-no-mistakes stooge who has all of the personality of a vanilla milk shake. Of course, a lot of character development depends on the type of story you’re writing and what it needs out of the main character. Naturally, a character driven piece will have a more interesting protagonist with interesting issues. Dramatic stories seem to be where most writers have the most trouble with the main character.

“OK, smart guy,” you’re probably saying right about now. “So what do you do to make your protagonist dynamic and likable?”

I’m glad you asked.

Think Jimmy Stewart as George Baily in It’s a Wonderful Life or Henry Fonda as Juror #8 in 12 Angry Men. On the outside, both of these characters seemed like Everyman nobodies. To look at them was to see unremarkable men living in an unremarkable circumstance.

But it was how those characters approached their unremarkable circumstances and came out on top that made them remarkable characters.

Everyone knows the story of George Bailey and how he’s stuck in a life that he doesn’t want while he perceives that the rest of the world is passing him by. The way he’s made to be interesting is that, even though he always does the right thing, he doesn’t ever want to. He’s a man who has a lifetime of internal conflict because he feels trapped into doing what he has to do while everyone else does what they want to do. As you watch this film, you empathize with George because he’s living a life that many of us feel we’re living, and he undervalues his life the way many of us do with our own lives. George is matched up against a dynamic and powerful antagonist in Mr. Potter, played brilliantly by Lionel Barrymore. Potter is a selfish and greedy miser who runs everything in the town except for George’s Building & Loan. He and George are mirror images of each other and their traits compliment each other like red and green on the color wheel. And even though the best thing for George to do from an external standpoint would be to let Potter take over the Building & Loan and close its doors forever, George knows that it’s too important to everyone else in town that it stays open, so he keeps it open.

This unremarkable man becomes a remarkable character through his inner conflict.

12 Angry Men does it a little differently with Juror #8. As we are introduced to all of the jurors in the room, we get to know all of their different personalities in the first 5 minutes. All of them, that is except for Juror #8. He’s quiet. He’s thoughtful. While all of the other jurors are casually ready to declare the defendant guilty, even though they know it will mean his execution, Juror #8 stands alone in saying not guilty. He admits that the evidence seems overwhelming, but he just wants to talk it out. Over the course of the next hour and a half he slowly gets the others to develop reasonable doubt to the point where it’s clear that the defendant couldn’t be guilty of this crime. Juror #8 also has a dynamic and powerful antagonist to deal with in Juror #3, who is bound and determined to hold on to his prejudices and preconceptions, even with the life of another human being in the balance, until the end when Juror #8 is finally able to convince him too.

This unremarkable man becomes remarkable by standing up for those who can’t stand up for themselves.

The audience will root and root hard for this character, who at the beginning of the film comes across as flat and disengaged. Over the course of the story, like George Bailey, his emotion reaches a tipping point and he becomes the dynamic crusader of justice on behalf of those that can’t get justice themselves. He starts off seeming like a weak man, but becomes a protector of the weak.

Inner conflict. Standing up against tyranny and long odds for success.These are the things that you need to give your protagonist so that he or she is dynamic. They don’t need to be heroes in the sense that Superman or Batman or Indiana Jones are heroes. They can be quiet, determined heroes that have internal issues that make them interesting and dynamic. They can be interesting characters without being remarkable people, at least initially. They become remarkable over the course of the story, and that will engage the audience.

Do you have a script that needs a more interesting or dynamic protagonist. Monument Script Services can help evaluate all of your characters so that they fit into your script the proper way and will get the audience engaged. Check out the link below to find out how we can help.

http://monumentscripts.com/service/